America\u2019s long-term jobless face huge obstacles in returning to steady full-time employment, with just 11 per cent succeeding over the course of any given year, according to new research that raises alarm bells about structural problems in the US labour market.<\/p>\n
The study by Alan Krueger, a Princeton University economist who served as a top economic adviser to Barack Obama between 2011 and 2013, shows that even in good times and in healthy states the long-term jobless are \u201cat the margins\u201d\u009d of the labour market with little hope of regaining their footing.<\/p>\n
A big spike in long-term unemployment \u201d\u201c defined as joblessness extending beyond 26 weeks \u201d\u201c has been one of the defining features of the US recession and its aftermath. There were 3.8m long-term unemployed in February 2014, according to the latest labour department data, more than double the pre-financial crisis level of 1.9m in August 2008. The share of the jobless who have been out of work for more than six months has nearly doubled over that timeframe, from 19.8 per cent to 37 per cent.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a> (if necessary another link may be found there<\/a>).<\/p>\n